The Philadelphia Eagles suffered their first defeat of the 2014 NFL season on Sunday to the San Francisco 49ers, 26-21. (Recap)
The Eagles dropped to 3-1 with the loss. They definitely did not deserve to win the game, but somehow kept themselves in it until the end.
Now that the game is over, let's assign a letter grade.
My grade: D+
Offense: F
Talking about a terrible offensive showing. Nick Foles was bad: 21/42, 195, 4.5 average, 0 TD, 2 INT, 42.3 rating. LeSean McCoy was bad: 10 carries, 17 yards, 1.7, longest run of 5 yards. Zach Ertz fumbled at a crucial point in the game. Philadelphia was 5-13 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down. The Eagles' patch-work offensive line deserves a lot of blame. The protection wasn't very good and there weren't holes to be found in the running game. On top of it all, head coach Chip Kelly did not call a great game. Outside of the final drive, which ended up being a failed scoring attempt anyway, the Eagles just couldn't even move the ball. Zero offensive touchdowns.
Defense: B
Philadelphia's defense played decent, considering they were on the field for most of the game. The 49ers held the ball on offense for a total of 42 minutes and 17 seconds. The run defense was NOT good: 218 yards allowed on 42 carries for an average of 5.2 yards. Holding Colin Kaepernick to 17/30, 218 yards, 7.3 average, 2 TD, 1 INT, 87.9 rating was not bad, however. The Eagles defense even recorded four sacks after failing to register a single one in the past two games. Outside of Frank Gore's wide open touchdown reception, the Eagles made the 49ers work for their points.
Special Teams: A-
The Eagles special teams unit was responsible for two-thirds of Phialdelphia's total points. A blocked punt by rookie Trey Burton early in the game was recovered by Brad Smith to give the Eagles an early lead. Later on, Darren Sproles returned a San Francisco punt for an 82-yard touchdown. This unit looked really good, and it should not be a surprise. The Eagles invested in special teams this offseason and it has showed. Back in training camp BGN wrote that the Eagles had the potential to be a top 10 special teams unit.
It wasn't all pretty, however. Burton failed to down a Donnie Jones punt at the one-yard line by accidentally sliding in the endzone as he touched the ball. Cornerback Bradley Fletcher also committed a costly penalty on the 49ers' last punt.
...
What's your grade?